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Contentions: If you really want to make an impact, tell a story
You may never own a pair of J’s, though there’s a chance you’ll know Michael Jordan’s story. You may not have heard one of Amanda Palmer songs, though you may know of her stories with crowdfunding. You may not watch Oprah, and you might still know her as a billionaire who started with nothing. Same…
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Contentions: Predictions drive great brands
A great brand is driven by a prediction. (That’s not the only starting point; a great brand can start as a lighthouse, too.) These visions of the future are the fuel for where the business goes. Ideas and people matter more than the product. Eventually, these ideas and people bear resemblance to religion; Apple, Soulcycle,…
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In praise of the obvious
When you’re playing a word game like Scrabble, it helps to move your letters around. Just a simple shuffle of the same letters will show you combinations that your brain couldn’t see before. There’s a similar case to be made for writing about something that seems obvious. Even if the idea or story is the…
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One with the people
Even if you come up with the most brilliant business, product, or creative idea, you’ll be limited by how well you can connect it with the people who get value out of it. You don’t just magically find these connections (and ideas!). You discover it through spending time with people and listening to what they’re…
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I wrote every day for 365 days. Here are my results and 5 insights
In February 2022, I started #the100dayproject with the goal of writing a new blog post every day. (Here’s post #1.) Day 100 came, and I didn’t stop. I was having way too much fun. I’ve since written 110,126 words, enough to fill two nonfiction books. Over 88,106 people have visited my website. I’ve often been…
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Contentions: Writing to understand
Writing can be a tool for marketing, creating media, and building an audience. But it’s definitely not the most valuable use of it. Many people and teams are constantly patterning themselves after what they see and believe to be successful. That’s because if they didn’t mimic the best practices, they don’t know what they would…
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Shuffle mode
Sometimes, an insight reveals itself from a simple shuffle. An example includes rearranging letters in a game of Scrabble or Letter Tycoon; it’ll prompt your brain to see new words or recognize new possibilities. This applies to all sorts of creative work; sometimes, it’s worth rolling the dice. Let the magic of controlled sloppiness happen.
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Interviewing experts to learn
I recently appeared at Rich Armstrong’s Twitter Spaces, and the topic of meeting other people (“networking”) came up (1:06:35). It reminded me of a draft for career advice that I pitched Forge (it was just sitting around, and this was an opening to unstick it). When I was a junior in college, I was at…
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Thin layers
To elaborate on yesterday’s post: what looks like a simple, thin, layer can still be powerful (and take a lot of work!). See also improve the interface.
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“Evolve or Die”
“Evolve or die” is one of the mottos in 50 Cent’s Hustle Harder, Hustle Smarter. He discusses his own adherence to the principle: When he put out new music in 2009, it still topped the charts, but he noticed the crowds at live shows weren’t responding to it as they used to. He observed that…